hurts her, you can kill him. Will that keep you satisfied?
His response is to curl up back inside me, his restlessness abating.
Glad we finally agree about something.
“Collin?” Brianna says.
I jolt in my seat and realize she’s still waiting for my answer. I give her a sheepish smile. Don’t mind me. I’m just conversing with my psychotic half. “What did you ask?”
“You were going to tell me what a rogue is.”
I clear my throat. “So rogues are male werewolves that have left their packs. When a werewolf is on his own for too long, he begins to change. Packs keep us civil, more human than animal, but without a pack, our wolf side can go insane. When that happens, we call a werewolf a rogue.”
I make myself keep my gaze on her even though a deep sense of shame fills me, especially when her eyes dim.
“And you knew that your wolf would turn into that if you left your pack?”
I shrug. “I knew it could happen, but I didn’t think it would. I thought I was too strong and that I could keep my wolf in check.” My lip curls. “But I was wrong.” And I was an arrogant prick who’s now paying the price.
“So you can’t control your wolf-side at all anymore?”
“I can but barely. During the last few weeks, it’s been harder. He’s grown stronger, and his impulses have been harder to control.”
At least my human mind hasn’t succumbed to the beast, but that could change if I’m not careful.
Some rogues eventually give into the darkness and let their beast completely take over. Even if they walk around in their human form, the beast is still ruling their mind.
But I refuse to let that happen even though it would be the easy way out. If the beast were in complete control, I wouldn’t feel guilt or shame anymore. I could live like an animal.
But if I do that than I truly am no better than a murderer. Up until now, my beast has committed all of the killings, but if I forsake my human mind I would be no better than him.
I’m clinging to the fact that I can still choose the fate of my mind. I have to. If I no longer have that choice, I might as well give up and let the SF catch me.
Brianna shudders just as a cloud drifts in front of the sun. Some of the land dips into shadows. “And that’s why your wolf tried to kill me back at the cabin? Because he loves to murder?”
“Yes.”
“So why did he stop?”
I can tell from how she’s looking at me that she genuinely has no clue. A female werewolf would have sensed it immediately and understood the mating bond, but since she’s a human and didn’t grow up in a pack, she has no idea how males of my kind get when their mate appears. Nor does she know how females of our kind get.
All wolves are hot-blooded.
I shrug and keep my answer vague since I still feel like she’s not ready for the full truth. “He likes you.”
Her head snaps back. “Likes me? He tried to kill me.”
“But that was before.”
“Before what?”
“Before he decided you were different.”
She shifts completely in her seat so she’s facing me squarely. “How am I different?”
In this position, her breasts jut out as the seatbelt cuts into the middle of them, accentuating the two perfect mounds. I lick my lips. Her tits are begging for my attention. Fuck my mate is hot.
Brianna squirms for a moment, and my nostrils flare. A slightly musky scent wafts from her.
A grin wants to stretch across my face.
She’s also horny.
For me.
But relishing that scent right now will only make my shorts stand up like a tee-pee. I rip my gaze away from her and shrug. “He just decided you’re different is all.”
She takes a deep breath, and her scent dampens. With a quick movement, she squeezes her legs together, and I know she’s fighting her innate attraction to me again. But fighting it is hopeless. For whatever reason, this human and I are fated to be together, and she can’t fight it any more than I can.
“So why not just go back to your pack?”
Her abrupt question has my dirty thoughts falling to the back of my mind. “Why would I do that?”
“Doesn’t your pack have werewolves in it?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“So wouldn’t going back home and being around them solve whatever problem your crazy wolf has?”